Reading The Deathly Hallows
by jessicachase137
Summary: In the trio's fifth year, Hermione is wandering through the library and finds a peculiar book. A book about Harry. The Order decides to take the chance and read it. Read to find out what chaos will ensue.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: As much as I wish I owned Harry Potter, I do not. *sobs*

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After dinner on a summer night at Number Twelve Grimmauld Place, Hermione Granger went to the library to find a book while Harry and Ron went to the sitting room to talk about Harry getting off at his trial. The twins and Ginny had disappeared. She let her fingers run over the spines of each book, feeling the texture of each one, until she came across one that seemed slightly peculiar. She looked at the title of it and gasped. Grabbing it off of the shelf, she sprinted back downstairs and into the kitchen, where the members of the Order were sitting. They looked faintly amused at the sight of her, hair frizzier than normal, chest heaving slightly.

"What is it, Ms. Granger?" Dumbledore asked.

"I found this in the library," she replied, throwing the book onto the table.

The Order members looked at the book for a moment, and all of them looked shocked at the title, but the one who seemed most affected by it was Albus Dumbledore himself. He had slumped back in his chair, eyes blown wide. Harry and the rest of the kids walked back into the kitchen then. Seeing Dumbledore like that the twins asked,

"What's going on?"

"I found this in the library," said Hermione and she turned the book around so they could read the title.

_Harry Potter And the Deathly Hallows._

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Please review! I promise this isn't going to be one of those stories where the author does only 5 or 6 chapters, I'm going to do the whole book.


	2. Chapter 2

_Last Time:_

_Harry Potter And the Deathly Hallows_

Note: The older Harry here will be called _Harry_, just to avoid any confusion.

Sorry the last chapter was so short, but I made up for it in this one.

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The kids pulled up chairs next to the table. A light flashed and two things appeared. One was a note, and the other was a very confused looking human being. The note said:

_Dear Order Of The Phoenix,_

_I have sent this book back in time so you could be able to change some things. Use it wisely._

_Sincerely,_

_TRL_

_PS: This is an older Harry. He knows what's going on he is just acting confused, so don't let him fool you._

The Order looked at each other, absolutely flabbergasted by what had just happened.

"Well then," said Dumbledore. "I suppose we should read it then. Mr. Potter you are welcome to join us you know."

_Harry_ blushed, and took a seat. Dumbledore set a spell, so no one would have to read, and sat back as the book started to read itself.

**The Dark Lord Ascending**

"Spooky," said Fred. Everyone else seemed to agree with him.

**The two men appeared out of nowhere, a few yards apart in the narrow, moonlit lane. For a second they stood quite still, wands directed at each other's chests;**

"Constant vigilance!" Yelled Moody.

**Then, recognizing each other, they stowed their wands beneath their cloaks and started walking briskly in the same direction.**

"What's going on?" Ron asked.

"A death eater meeting," _Harry _replied.

**"News?" Asked the taller of the two.**

**"The best," replied Severus Snape.**

"I knew it!" Yelled Sirius. "I knew he was a death eater!"

"Calm down Sirius," _Harry _said. Not everything is as it seems.

**The lane was bordered on the left by wild, low-growing brambles, on the right by a high, neatly manicured hedge. The men's long cloaks flapped around their ankles as they marched. **

**"Thought I might be late," said Yaxley, his blunt features sliding in and out of sight as the branches of overhanging trees broke the moonlight. "It was a little trickier than I expected. But I hope her will be satisfied. You sound confident that your reception will be good?"**

**Snape nodded, but did not elaborate. They turned right, into a wide driveway that led off the lane. The high hedge curved with them, running off into the distance beyond the pair of impressive wrought-iron gates barring the men's way. Neither of them broke step: In silence both raised their left arms in a kind of salute and passed straight through, as though the dark metal were smoke.**

"What?" Hermione asked. "How could that be?"

"The dark mark," answered _Harry._

**The yew hedges muffled the sound of the men's footsteps. There was a rustle somewhere to their right: Yaxley drew his wand again, pointing it over his companion's head, but the source of the noise proved to be nothing more than a pure-white peacock, strutting majestically along the top of the hedge.**

**"He always did himself well, Lucius. ****_Peacocks..."_****Yaxley thrust his wand back under his cloak with a snort.**

"Lucius?" Kingsley asked. "Lucius Malfoy?"

_Harry_ nodded at him.

**A handsome manor house grew out of the darkness at the end of the straight drive, lights glinting in the diamond pane windows.**

_Harry _shivered at the mention of the manor. He didn't think anyone notice it, but Hermione did, and she made a mental note to figure out why he did.

**Somewhere in the dark garden beyond the hedge a fountain was playing. Gravel crackled beneath their feet as Snape and Yaxley sped towards the front door, which swung inward at their approach, though nobody had visibly opened it.**

"House elves," said Remus.

Hermione scowled. She hated how house elves were treated.

**The hallway was large, dimly lit, and sumptuously decorated, with a magnificent carpet covering most of the stone floor. The eyes of the pale-faced portraits on the walls followed Snape and Yaxley as they strode past. The two men halted at a heavy wooden door leading into the next room, hesitated for the space of a heartbeat, then Snape turned the bronze handle.**

**The drawing room was full of silent people, sitting at a long and ornate table. The room's usual furniture had been pushed carelessly up against the walls. Illumination came from a roaring fire beneath a handsome marble mantelpiece surmounted by a gilded mirror. Snape and Yaxley lingered for a moment on the threshold. As their eyes grew accustomed to the lack of light, they were drawn upward to the strangest feature of the scene: an apparently unconscious human figure hanging upside down over the table, revolving slowly as if suspended by an invisible rope, and reflected in the mirror and in the bare, polished surface of the table below.**

"That's horrible!" gasped Minerva and Molly in unison.

Everyone else in the room seemed to agree with that statement.

**None of the people underneath this singular sight was looking at it except for a pale young man sitting almost directly below it. He seemed unable to prevent himself from glancing upward every minute or so.**

Dumbledore sighed. He felt bad for what the young Malfoy had to go through.

**"Yaxley. Snape," said a high, clear voice at the head of the table. "You are very nearly late."**

"How can you be very nearly late?" The twins asked. No one seemed to have an answer so they decided to ponder it for the rest of the chapter silently.

**The speaker was seated directly in front of the fireplace, so that it was difficult, at first, for the new arrivals to make out more than his silhouette. As they drew nearer, however, his face shone through the gloom, hairless, snakelike, with slits for nostrils and gleaming red eyes whose pupils were vertical. He was so pale that he seemed to emit a pearly glow.**

"Voldemort," Harry said, and the older Harry nodded.

**"Severus, here," said Voldemort, indicating the seat on his immediate right. "Yaxley- beside Dolohov."**

"He's his right hand man!" Sirius yelped, but he was silenced with a look from _Harry_.

**The two men took their allotted places. Most of the eyes around the table followed Snape, and it was him that Voldemort spoke first.**

**"So?"**

**"My Lord, the Order of the Phoenix intends to move Harry Potter from his current place of safety on Saturday next, at nightfall."**

"Ba-mmff," started Sirius, but he was cut off by Remus slapping a hand over his mouth and saying,

"There are children present. This statement caused a lot of complaints from the youngsters in the room."

**The interest around the table sharpened palpably: Some stiffened, others fidgeted, all gazing at Snape and Voldemort.**

**Saturday... at nightfall, repeated Voldemort. His red eyes fastened upon Snape's black ones with such intensity that some of the watchers looked away, apparently fearful that they themselves would be scorched by the ferocity of the gaze. Snape, however, looked calmly back into Voldemort's face and, after a moment or two, Voldemort's lipless mouth curved into something like a smile.**

**"Good. Very good. And this information comes-"**

**"-from the source we discussed," said Snape.**

What source is that? Said Fred, looking at _Harry_, who shrugged.

**"My lord."**

**Yaxley had leaned forward to look down the long table at Voldemort and Snape. All faces turned to him.**

**"My Lord I have heard differently."**

**Yaxley waited, but Voldemort did not speak, so he went on,**

**"Dawlish, the Auror let it slip that Potter will not be moved ****until the thirtieth, the night before  
the boy turns seventeen. "**

**Snape was smiling,**

**"My source told me that there are plans to lay a false trail; this must be it.  
No doubt a Confundus Charm has been placed upon Dawlish. It would not be  
the first time; he is known to be susceptible. "**

**" I assure you, my Lord, Dawlish seemed quite certain, " said Yaxley.**

Well, if he's under a Confundus, of course he's certain! Yelled Tonks.

**" If he has been Confunded, naturally he is certain," said Snape.**

Tonks blushed.

** "I assure you, Yaxley, the Auror Office will play no further part in the protection of Harry  
Potter. The Order believes that we have infiltrated the Ministry. "**

** "The Order s got one thing right, then, eh?" said a squat man sitting a short  
distance from Yaxley; he gave a wheezy giggle that was echoed here and there  
along the table.**

**Voldemort did not laugh. His gaze had wandered upward to the body revolving slowly overhead, and he seemed to be lost in thought.**

**"My Lord, " Yaxley went on, " Dawlish believes an entire party of Aurors will  
be used to transfer the boy ."**

**Voldemort held up a large white hand, and Yaxley subsided at once, watch-  
ing resentfully as Voldemort turned back to Snape.**

**" Where are they going to hide the boy next? "  
" At the home of one of the Order," said Snape. "The place, according to the  
source, has been given every protection that the Order and Ministry together  
could provide. I think that there is little chance of taking him once he is there,  
my Lord, unless, of course, the Ministry has fallen before next Saturday, which  
might give us the opportunity to discover and undo enough of the enchantments to break through the rest. "**

**" Well, Yaxley?" Voldemort called down the table, the relight glinting strangely ****in his red eyes.** "** Will the Ministry have fallen by next Saturday? "**

**Once again, all heads turned. Yaxley squared his shoulders.**

**"My Lord, I have good news on that score. I have with difficulty, and after  
great effort succeeded in placing an Imperius Curse upon Pius Thicknesse. "**

**Many of those sitting around Yaxley looked impressed; his neighbor, Dolohov,  
a man with a long, twisted face, clapped him on the back.**

The Weasley's stiffened at the mention of Dolohov. Molly looked close to tears.

**" It is a start," said Voldemort. "But Thicknesse is only one man. Scrimgeour  
must be surrounded by our people before I act. One failed attempt on the  
Minister' s life will set me back a long way. "**

**" Yes -my Lord, that is true -but you know, as Head of the Department of  
Magical Law Enforcement, Thicknesse has regular contact not only with the  
Minister himself, but also with the Heads of all the other Ministry departments. It will, I think, be easy now that we have such a high-ranking official under our control, to subjugate the others, and then they can all work together to bring Scrimgeour down."**

**" As long as our friend Thicknesse is not discovered before he has converted  
the rest, " said Voldemort. "At any rate, it remains unlikely that the Ministry  
will be mine before next Saturday. if we cannot touch the boy at his destination,  
the it must be done while he travels. "**

**" We are at an advantage there, my Lord," said Yaxley, who seemed determined to receive some portion of approval. " We now have several people planted within the Department of Magical Transport. If Potter Apparates or  
uses the Floo Network, we shall know immediately. "**

**" He will not do either, " said Snape. " The order is eschewing any form of  
transport that is controlled or regulated by the Ministry; they mistrust every thing to do with the place. "**

**" All the better, said Voldemort. He will have to move in the open. Easier  
to take, by far. "**

**"Again," Voldemort looked up at the slowly revolving body as he went on, **

**"I shall attend to the boy in person. There have been too many mistakes where  
Harry Potter is concerned. Some of them have been my own. That Potter lives ****is due more to my errors than to his triumphs. "**

**The company around the table watched Voldemort apprehensively, each of  
them, by his or her expression, afraid that they might be blamed for Harry  
Potter s continued existence. Voldemort, however, seemed to be speaking more  
to himself than to any of them, still addressing the unconscious body above  
him.**

**" I have been careless, and so have been thwarted by luck and chance, those  
wreckers of all but the best-laid plans. But I know better now. I understand  
those things that I did not understand before. I must be the one to kill Harry  
Potter, and I shall be. "**

**At these words, seemingly in response to them, a sudden wail sounded, a **t**errible, drawn-out cry of misery and pain. Many of those at the table looked downward, startled, for the sound had seemed to issue from below their feet.**

"**Wormtail, " said Voldemort, with no change in his quiet, thoughtful tone,  
and without removing his eyes from the revolving body above, **

**"Have I not spoken to you about keeping our prisoner quiet? "**

Sirius, Remus, and both Harrys growled at the name.

**"Yes, m-my Lord," gasped a small man halfway down the table, who had  
been sitting so low in his chair that it had appeared, at first glance, to be unoccupied. Now he scrambled from his seat and scurried from the room, leaving nothing behind him but a curious gleam of silver.**

**" As I was saying," continued Voldemort, looking again at the tense faces of  
his followers, " I understand better now. I shall need, for instance, to borrow a  
wand from one of you before I go to kill Potter. "**

**The faces around his displayed nothing but shock; he might have announced  
that he wanted to borrow one of their arms.  
**

**" No volunteers? " said Voldemort. " Let s see . . . Lucius, I see no reason for  
you to have a wand anymore. "  
**

**Lucius Malfoy looked up. His skin appeared yellowish and waxy in the  
relight, and his eyes were sunken and shadowed. When he spoke, his voice  
was hoarse.**

**" My Lord? **

**Your wand, Lucius. I require your wand. **

**I . . . "**

**Malfoy glanced sideways at his wife. She was staring straight ahead, quite  
as pale as he was, her long blonde hair hanging down her back, but beneath  
the table her slim fingers closed briefly on his wrist. At her touch, Malfoy put  
his hand into his robes, withdrew a wand, and passed it along to Voldemort,  
who held it up in from of his red eyes, examining it closely.**

**" What is it? "**

**" Elm, my Lord," whispered Malfoy.**

**" And the core? "**

**" Dragon -dragon heartstring." **

** "Good," said Voldemort.**

**He drew out his own wand and compared the  
lengths. Lucius Malfoy made an involuntary movement; for a fraction of a second, it seemed he expected to receive Voldemort s want in exchange for his own.  
The gesture was not missed by Voldemort, whose eyes widened maliciously.**

**" Give you my wand, Lucius? My wand? "**

The people around the table sniggered.

**Some of the throng sniggered.**

They stopped.

**" I have given you your liberty, Lucius, is that not enough for you? But I  
have noticed that you and your family seem less than happy of late . . . What is  
it about my presence in your home that displeases you, Lucius? "**

**" Nothing , nothing, my Lord! "**

**" Such lies, Lucius . . ."**

**The soft voice seems to hiss on even after the cruel mouth had stopped  
moving. One or two of the wizards barely repressed a shudder as the hissing  
grew louder; something heavy could be heard sliding across the floor beneath  
the table.**

**The huge snake emerged to climb slowly up Voldemort s chair. It rose, seemingly endlessly, and came to rest across Voldemort s shoulders; its neck the  
thickness of a man s thigh; its eyes, with their vertical slits for pupils, unblinking. Voldemort stroked the creature absently with long thin fingers, still looking at Lucius Malfoy.**

**"Why do the Malfoys look so unhappy with their lot? Is my return, my rise  
to power, not the very thing they professed to desire for so many years? "**

**Of course, my Lord, said Lucius Malfoy. His hand shook as he wiped sweat  
from his upper lip. "We did desire it , we do." **

**To Malfoy s left, his wife made an odd, stiff nod, her eyes averted from Volde-  
mort and the snake. To his right, his son, Draco, who had been gazing up at the  
inert body overhead, glanced quickly at Voldemort and away again, terrified to  
make eye contact.**

**" My Lord, " said a dark woman halfway down the table," her voice constricted  
with emotion, it is an honor to have you here, in our family 's house. "There can  
be no higher pleasure. "**

**She sat beside her sister, as unlike her in looks, with her dark hair and heavily lidded eyes, as she** **was in bearing and demeanor; where Narcissa sat rigid and impassive, Bellatrix leaned toward Voldemort, for mere words could not demonstrate her longer for closeness.**

"Ewww..." said the children in the room, Sirius included.

**" No higher pleasure," repeated Voldemort, his head tilted a little to one side  
as he considered Bellatrix. "That means a great deal, Bellatrix, from you."  
**

**Her face flooded with color; her eyes welled with tears of delight.  
"My Lord knows I speak nothing but the truth! "**

**" No higher pleasure . . . even compared with the happy event that, I hear,  
has taken place in your family this week? "**

**She stared at him, her lips parted, evidently confused.  
" I don 't know what you mean, my Lord. "**

**" I 'm talking about your niece, Bellatrix. And your, Lucius and Narcissa.  
She has just married the werewolf, Remus Lupin. You must be so proud." **

"Congratulations!" The Order shouted. Remus looked at Tonks, shocked, but smiled kindly at her. He was beginning to like her after all

**There was an eruption of jeering laughter from around the table. Many  
leaned forward to exchange gleeful looks, a few thumped the table with their  
fists. The great snake, disliking the disturbance, opened its mouth and hissed  
angrily, but the Death Eaters did not hear it, so jubilant where that at Bellatrix and the Malfoys ** **humiliation. Bellatrix s face, so recently flushed with happiness, had turned an ugly, blotchy red.**

**" She is no niece of ours, my Lord," she cried over the outpouring of mirth. " We, Narcissa and I , have never set eyes on our sister since she married the, Mudblood. This brat has nothing to do with either of us, nor any beast she marries. "**

**" What say you, Draco?" asked Voldemort, and though his voice was quiet,  
it carried clearly through the catcalls and jeers. "Will you babysit the cubs? "**

Remus looked down sadly. The Order members were furious.

**The hilarity mounted; Draco Malfoy looked in terror at his father, who was  
staring down into his own lap, then caught his mother s eye. She shook her  
head almost imperceptibly, then resumed her own deadpan stare at the opposite wall.**

**" Enough, " said Voldemort, stroking the angry snake. "Enough. "**

**And the laughter died at once.**

**" Many of our oldest family trees become a little diseased over time, he said  
as Bellatrix gazed at him, breathless and imploring. You must prune yours,  
must you not, to keep it healthy? Cut away those parts that threaten the health  
of the rest. "**

Sirius growled something under his breath that no one seemed to catch.

**"Yes, my Lord," whispered Bellatrix, and her eyes swam with tears of gratitude again. "At the first chance!" **

**"You shall have it, said Voldemort. And in your family, so in the world  
. . . we shall cut away the canker that infects us until only those of the true  
blood remain . . ." **

**Voldemort raised Lucius Malfoy s wand, pointed it directly at the slowly  
revolving figure suspended over the table, and gave it a tiny flick. The figure  
came to life with a groan and began to struggle against invisible bonds.**

**" Do you recognize our guest, Severus? " asked Voldemort.**

**Snape raised his eyes to the upside down face. All of the Death Eaters  
were looking up at the captive now, as though they had been given permission  
to show curiosity. As she revolved to face the relight, the woman said in a  
cracked and terrified voice.**

**" Severus! Help me!" **

**" Ah, yes," said Snape as the prisoner turned slowly away again.**

**"And you, Draco?" asked Voldemort, stroking the snake s snout with his  
wand-free hand. **

**Draco shook his head jerkily. Now that the woman had woken,  
he seems unable to look at her anymore.**

**" But you would not have taken her classes, " said Voldemort. "For those of  
you who do not know, we are joined here tonight by Charity Burbage, who until  
recently, taught at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. "**

"No!" cried Minerva and Hermione. Dumbledore looked down sadly at the table.

**There were small noises of comprehension around the table. A broad, hunched  
woman with pointed teeth cackled.**

**" Yes . . . Professor Burbage taught the children of witches and wizards all  
about Muggles . . . how they are not so different from us . . ." **

"They really aren't," said Hermione and the Harrys.

**One of the Death Eaters spat on the floor. Charity Burbage revolved to face  
Snape again.**

** "Severus . . . please . . . please . . ."**

"Why won't he help her?" Questioned Hermione.

"It would mean blowing his cover," _Harry_ replied.

**"Silence, " said Voldemort, with another twitch of Malfoy s wand, and Charity fell silent as if gagged. **

** "Not content with corrupting and polluting the minds of Wizarding children, last week Professor Burbage wrote an impassioned defense of Mudbloods in the Daily Prophet. Wizards, she says, must accept those thieves of their knowledge and magic. The dwindling of the purebloods is, says  
Professor Burbage, a most desirable circumstance . . . She would have use all mate with Muggles . . . or, no doubt, werewolves . . ."**

The Order glared at the book. Harry laughed to himself. _If looks could kill._

**Nobody laughed this time; There was no mistaking the anger and contempt  
in Voldemort s voice. For the third time, Charity Burbage revolved to face  
Snape. Tears were pouring from her eyes into her hair. Snape looked back  
at her, quite impassive, as she turned slowly away from his again.**

**"Avada Kedavra. "**

**The ash of green light illuminated every corner of the room. Charity fell,  
with a resounding crash, onto the table below, which trembled and creaked.  
Several of the Death Eaters leapt back in their chairs. Draco fell out of his onto  
the floor.**

**"Dinner, Nagini," said Voldemort softly, and the great snake swayed and  
slithered from his shoulders onto the polished wood.**

"That is sick," yelled Hermione through a face full of tears. Everyone else agreed.

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